Nichols: Major mistakes in loss to Rice leave SMU's bowl hopes in doubt

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Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE/US PRESSWIRE

Nov 17, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; General view of the line of scrimmage during a game between the Southern Methodist Mustangs and the Rice Owls in the fourth quarter at Rice Stadium. Rice defeated SMU 36-14. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

HOUSTON — SMU seemed ready to get over the mistakes that left the Mustangs trailing Rice by 13 points.

On their first drive of the second half, the Mustangs put the ball in the hands of their best player, but as Zach Line stretched to touch the pylon, he lost control of the ball. His touchdown was overturned on review, Rice drove for a field goal, and the Mustangs never recovered.

Instead of clinching a bowl berth, SMU got bowled over by the Owls, 36-14, on Saturday at Rice Stadium. SMU (5-6, 4-3) must beat Tulsa, the best team in Conference USA, next Saturday to become bowl eligible.

“It was close,” Line said. “The ball just kinda slipped out of my hands. It’s a game of inches, and obviously, I didn’t get it.”

To top it off, the Mustangs even forgot to bring the Mayor’s Cup, a trophy presented to the game’s winner since 1998.

But more costly were SMU’s dropped passes, turnovers, penalties, coverage breakdowns and self-inflicted poor field position.

The lone bright spot was punter Mike Loftus, who spent the day booming kicks from deep in SMU territory. He averaged 50.4 yards per punt with a net average of 50.2.

Then came a fumble from Gilbert, who was sacked as he tried to throw. The Owls (5-6, 3-4) scored two plays later on Taylor McHargue’s 19-yard pass to Vance McDonald. The Mustangs had no defense for that inside route, which Rice used repeatedly.

Another dropped pass foiled SMU’s next drive. A three-and-out was answered with an 82-yard drive capped by McHargue’s seven-yard touchdown pass to Donte Moore. The score with 20 seconds left in the second quarter swung the momentum heavily in Rice’s favor at halftime.

The Mustangs could have swayed things their way on their first drive of the second half had Line scored on first-and-goal from the 7.

“You can’t beat a hungry conference rival doing that on the road,” SMU guard Blake McJunkin said. “No. 48 [Line] almost never fumbles the football, and especially not at the half-yard line. We’ve got to get back to work, so we don’t do the things we did today.”

SMU got worse as it tried to mount a comeback. The Mustangs gained only eight yards in the fourth quarter. Their first two drives went for minus-10 yards.

Gilbert was 15-of-27 for 214 yards, including a 55-yarder to Darius Johnson, who finished with 153 yards receiving. But Gilbert was sacked four times.

“When they started to pass late in the game, our front four stepped in and completely took over the game,” Rice coach David Bailiff said. “We were making great plays on the ball, and we were tackling well.”

To reach a fourth straight bowl game, they must upset Tulsa, which clinched the C-USA West Division with a 23-21 victory over Central Florida.

“We came here expecting this to be our sixth win, our bowl berth,” senior linebacker Taylor Reed said. “We’ve got to get over it real quick because we’ve got to beat the No. 1 team in our conference.”

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